Durable-press stretch fabric and method of obtaining same

ABSTRACT

A durable press woven stretch fabric including a durable pressure finish and comprising, as the filling, a plied yarn composed of multiple ends of a textured yarn plied with at least one end of cellulosic yarn.

United States Patent Inventor Paul Zindwer New York, N.Y.

Appl. No. 805,368

Filed Mar. 7, 1969 Patented Sept. 14, 1971 Assignee BurlingtonIndustries, Inc.

Greensboro, N.C.

DURABLE-PRESS STRETCH FABRIC AND METHOD OF OBTAINING SAME 420, 426;28/72 PT, 74, 76 E; 38/144; 2/243; l61/77;57/l40, 140 B References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1957 57/140X 6/1959 57/ 140 3/1962 Hilton 38/1449/1967 Pyke et al 38/144 3/1968 Getchell 2/243 X 4/1968 Campbell et al..57/140 10/1968 Pierce 139/421 4/ 1969 Petterson et al. 28/72 X 8/1969Gordon 2/243 11/1969 Manok 139/421 X Primary Examiner-James Kee ChiAttorney-Cushman, Darby 8L Cushman ABSTRACT: A durable press wovenstretch fabric including a durable pressure finish and comprising, asthe filling, a plied yarn composed of multiple ends of a textured yamplied with at least one end of cellulosic yarn.

DURABLE-PRESS STRETCH FABRIC AND METHOD OF OBTAINING SAME The presentinvention is concerned with the provision of stretch fabrics havingeffective durable-press characteristics.

Durable press fabrics have become increasingly popular over the last fewyears and substantial improvements have been made towards obtainingbetter fabric performance. However, there is still a real need to have afabric which demonstrates an effective combination of durable-press andstretch properties.

Durable press products, e.g., garments, are conventionally made by theso-called post-cured method which involves (1) impregnating woven fabric(comprising a cotton or other cellulosic content, usually in combinationwith polyester or the like) with an aqueous solution of a textilereactive resin (e.g. dimethylol dihydroxy ethylene urea) and a latentcuring catalyst, (2) drying without substantial curing, (3) cutting thefabric and making the desired garment or other product, (4) pressing andthen (5) curing. This normally gives a product possessing effectivedurable press characteristics in conventional nonstretch constructions.However, when a stretch product is desired, it has not been possible toobtain a product which possesses a satisfactory combination of stretchand durable press properties and retains these on repeated launderings.In particular, either the stretch or durable press properties, or both,are undesirably effected by the finishing necessary to obtain apost-cured product.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a post-curedstretch fabric, woven or knitted, which demonstrates optimum stretch anddurable press properties. Other objects will also be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the invention.

Broadly stated, the objects of the invention are realized by theprovision of a post-cured, durable press stretch fabric which ischaracterized by including as the filling and optionally as the warp, acomposite plied stretch yarn comprising multiple ends of texturedthermoplastic synthetic yarn, e.g., stretch nylon, and at least one endof 100 percent cellulosic (cotton, rayon or the equivalent).Surprisingly, it has been found that this type of fabric, having theindicated filling yarn construction, will give a product havingoutstanding stretch and durable press properties when processedaccording to conventional post-cure techniques. For some unexplainedreason, the processing involved does not undesirably effect the stretchcharacteristics of the plied stretch yarn and, by the same token, thepresence of the stretch yarn during the processing does not reduce thequality of the durable press properties of the fabric even afterrepeated launderings.

Any type of textured stretch yarn as defined above may be used toprepare the plied yarn for present purposes. Preferably, however, thiscomponent comprises a continuous multifilament stretch syntheticthermoplastic yarn, comprising nylon or polyester, made by conventionalfalse twisting techniques (e.g., Fluflon, Superloft, Agilon, Saaba,etc.). Bulky yams made by the Helanca process, by crimping (Banlon) orby means of air jet (Taslan) may also be used. Spun textured yarns,rather than continuous filament yarns may also be employed and, in somecircumstances, ends of monofilament stretch yarn may be used althoughbest results are realized with multifilament stretch yarns.

The composite plied yarn used herein should comprise at least two ends,and preferably three or more ends, of the textured or stretch yarn,plied together with one or more ends of cellulosic yarn, e.g., spun yarncomprising rayon, cotton or blends thereof, continuous filament rayon orthe like. High modulus rayon yarn is especially advantageous for plyingwith the stretch yarn ends.

Denier for the plied composite yarn and its component ends can be widelyvaried and will depend in large measure on the type of fabric desired.Usually, however, each end of textured yarn and each end of cellulosicyarn will have a denier in the range of 20 to 150, preferably in theorder of 5075. Advantageously each textured end has a higher denier thanthe cellulosic end but this is not necessary. As a typical illustrationof a plied yarn useful herein, there may be mentioned one comprising 2-4ends of 70 denier textured multifilament stretch nylon and 1 end of, forexample, 50 singles percent cellulosic, e.g., cotton and/or rayon, whichhave been plied together with 2-5 turns S or Z ply twist. This yarn, orits equivalent, may be used as the filling yarn according to theinvention and, if stretch is desired in both directions, this type ofplied yarn may also be used in the warp although usually it is preferredthat the warp be a nonstretch yarn of any desired composition, e.g.,cotton, rayon, polyester, or other synthetics such as acrylics, incontinuous or spun form and/or with or without blend components.

Apart from the use of the special type of plied stretch yarn referred toabove as the filling and optionally as the warp, the fabric of theinvention may be knitted or woven in conventional fashion followed bythe usual preparation steps, e.g., singeing, desizing and/or mercerizingprior to application of the durable press finish. The latter may beapplied in conventional manner, e.g., by padding or otherwiseimpregnating the fabric with an aqueous composition ofthe textilereactant and curing agent followed by drying so that the fabricincludes, for example, not more than up to about 8 percent by weightmoisture and without extensive curing (i.e., not in excess of, forexample, 40% fixed solids). The fabric may then be stored for as long asdesired and/or cut and made into the desired product such as a garmentor flat goods, e.g., sheets, followed by pressing and curing.Conventional pressing and curing conditions, e.g., hot head pressing at280 to 330 F. for 5-25 seconds, followed by curing at 280350 F.,preferably 325-330 F. for 5-20 minutes, may be used.

The textile reactant resin may be any of those conventionally used forthe preparation of durable press cellulosic products. This includes, forexample, the methylolated derivatives of various nitrogen-containingcompounds such as urea, N,N'-ethylene urea, propylene urea,aminotriazines such as melamines and substituted melamines, triazonesand urons. Combinations of these materials, for example, a mixture ofpolymethylolated triazine and polymethylolated ethylene urea, may alsobe employed. Particularly preferred for use is the well-known Reactant183 which comprises dimethylol dihydroxy ethylene urea.

The amount of reactant or resin which is applied to the fabric accordingto the invention may be widely varied and will depend on other operatingfactors, e.g., the fabric construction, reactant employed and theproperties desired in the ultimate product. However, the amount willgenerally be in the range of about 2-20 percent solids add-on based onthe weight of the fabric although amounts outside this range may also beemployed.

Conventional catalysts may be used in the application of the durablepress effects according to the invention. These include, for example,acidic metal salts such as zinc or magnesium nitrate or chloride.Preferably, these acidic salts are buffered to minimize cellulosichydrolysis, suitable buffers being acetic acid or amines such as urea,diethanolamine and the like.

The invention is illustrated, but not limited, by the following example:An end of 70/l3 textured nylon (with S torque therein) was plied with anend of 50/1 spun rayon (Brt. Rayon 252). The ply twist amounted to 2%turns per inch S twist. The resulting plied yarn was then plied (2%turns per inch Z") with two separate ends of 70/13 textured nylon (withZ" torque). This gave a plied product comprising 68 percent nylon, 32percent rayon (on a weight basis).

The above' operations were carried out on a Universal Model 10 throwingframe and, after dotting, the plied product was coned for use as thefilling yarn in the manner described below.

A 3/1 L. H. twill was woven using the above plied yarn as the filling.The warp was 9 singles polyester/cotton (50/50 blend) spun yarn. Thefabric had a greige construction of 58 picks and 44 ends per inch, afinished weight of 8% ounces per yard and a finished width of 45/6.

The fabric was then impregnated by padding with an aqueous solution ofabout percent dimethylol dihydroxy ethylene urea (Reactant 183) andabout 3 percent buffered zinc nitrate followed by drying on a tenterframe at about 190-195 F. to a moisture content of about 4 percent.

Part of the dried fabric was then cut into desired size, sewn into theform of a garment section and pressed on a hot head press at 325 F. forseconds and then cured in an oven for 15 minutes at 325 F. The resultingpost-cured product demonstrated outstanding crease retention and stretchproperties (about 26 percent in the filling direction), even afterrepeated launderings. Other fabric properties, e.g., smoothness, hand,abrasion resistance, and tensile strength, were also satisfactory.Similar results were obtained when another portion of the dried fabricwas made into flat goods and cured in this condition.

Various modifications may be made in the procedure outlined in theforegoing example. For instance, the rayon plied with the textured nylonmay be replaced by a similar end of cotton. Preferably, however, a highmodulus rayon such as AVRlI is used for plying with the texturedcomponent as noted earlier. Various changes may also be advantageouslymade in the composition or structure of the warp yarn, e.g., 100 percentcotton or 100 percent polyester may be used in lieu of thecotton/polyester blend exemplified.

It will be recognized that a wide variety of fabric constructions ofvarying degrees of stretch (e.g., 15-30 percent in the fillingdirection) may be made according to the invention. Durable press,stretch denim pants and slacks may be usefully made in this way althoughother garment constructions and flat goods, where a combination ofstretch and durable press is desirable, are also contemplated.

The invention is defined in the following claims wherein:

1. A woven fabric characterized by the combination of durable press andstretch properties, said fabric including a post-cured durable pressresin finish and comprising, as the essential filling component, a pliedyarn composed of multiple ends of a textured synthetic thermoplasticyarn plied with'at least one end of cellulosic yarn.

2. A fabric according to clam 1 wherein the textured yarn is amultifilament continuous thermoplastic synthetic stretch yarn.

3. A fabric according to claim 2 wherein the stretch yarn is composed ofnylon.

4. A fabric according to claim 3 wherein the cellulosic yarn is percentrayon.

5. A fabric according to claim 3 wherein the cellulosic yarn is 100percent cotton.

6. A fabric according to claim 1 in garment form.

7. A fabric according to claim 1 wherein said filling yarn comprisesseveral ends of multifilament stretch nylon plied together with an endof rayon or cotton yarn and the warp comprises a polyester/cotton yarn.

2. A fabric according to clam 1 wherein the textured yarn is amultifilament continuous thermoplastic synthetic stretch yarn.
 3. Afabric according to claim 2 wherein the stretch yarn is composed ofnylon.
 4. A fabric according to claim 3 wherein the cellulosic yarn is100 percent rayon.
 5. A fabric according to claim 3 wherein thecellulosic yarn is 100 percent cotton.
 6. A fabric according to claim 1in garment form.
 7. A fabric according to claim 1 wherein said fillingyarn comprises several ends of multifilament stretch nylon pliedtogether with an end of rayon or cotton yarn and the warp comprises apolyester/cotton yarn.